In a modular redundant array of independent or inexpensive disk (RAID) on motherboard (MROMB) system, MROMB circuitry residing on a circuit card, for example, may be used to configure and/or control, independently of a host processor residing on a motherboard, an input/output (I/O) controller that also may reside on the motherboard. MROMB hardware on the motherboard may perform operations that may enable the MROMB circuitry on the circuit card to configure and/or control the I/O controller independently of the host processor.
The host processor also may perform operations that may enable the host processor to configure one or more devices in the system. However, if both the host processor and the circuit card's MROMB circuitry attempt to configure the I/O controller, the performance of the I/O controller and/or the system may be adversely affected. For example, if both the host processor and the circuit card's MROMB circuitry contemporaneously attempt to configure the I/O controller, this may result in contention between the host processor and the circuit card's MROMB circuitry that may halt of the system's operation.
It should be understood that although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.